


Can't Stop This Course We've Plotted

by kenitra



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-11 00:45:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5607274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenitra/pseuds/kenitra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>March 2016, Harry and Louis sit down to chat with James Corden in an exclusive interview.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sit Down with James Corden/Confession at the Bungalow

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**chapter 1**

**Sit down with James Corden**

“Good evening, welcome to a primetime special interview. I’m James Corden,” James introduces himself, looking more serious than usual.

“Three days ago, Twitter blew up,” James Corden says as he looks into the camera. “Over what, those living under a rock, might ask? These two tweets: one from Harry Styles that read  **@Louis_Tomlinson *If I could fly, I'd be coming right back home to you*** and less than a minute later from Louis Tomlinson  **@Harry_Styles *Want to wake up and see your face; I'll make this feel like home.** *

“Their long touted hiatus has just begun, yet here we are,” James adds, looking at the camera. “Two members of the biggest quartet in the world, One Direction’s Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. Welcome back boys.”

The camera pans over to the light blue couch where the two young men are sitting. Twenty-two year old Harry is sitting closest to James, Louis is to Harry’s left. Their clasped hands are obvious where they rest on Harry’s black denim clad thigh. Harry has his hair loose and the brown waves tumble across his shoulders. To go with his black skinny jeans he has on a brown button up shirt with a floral pattern.

“Thanks for having us James,” Louis says in his light tenor. His hair is his usual stylish quiff. On this day he is clean shaven making him look younger than his twenty-four years. He is wearing black skinny jeans and a simple grey pullover.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that that,” James waves at the clasped hands, “is why you’re here.”

Harry’s piercing green eyes move to the man on his left, and he smiles as he squeezes their entwined hands together.

”So you know James,” Harry begins as he relaxes back against the couch, stretching his long legs out in front. “There is one question that mainstream media never actually asked me.” He looks at Louis with a smirk. “Other people asked, but I could get away without answering, because let's be honest, it's rather rude. A few interviewers asked ‘around’ the subject but no one ever came right out and asked. Which was rather fortunate since I can't lie very convincingly.”

James laughs. “Well then, let me be the first.” He moves out from behind his desk and walks over with a hand held microphone to stand directly in front of the two men. “Harry Styles, are you gay?”

“Yes I am, James, thanks for asking,” Harry replies with a carefree laugh. Louis and James laugh as well.

“Since I'm asking, Louis, would you care to share?”

Louis smiles his trademark closed mouth smirk. “Sure. Technically I would identify as bisexual.” He glances at Harry beside him. “But let's be honest. Since I was 18 I've been mainly Harry-sexual. “

“Okay.  Now that we have cleared that up, let's talk,” James says and he returns to his swivel chair behind his desk.

“Where do you want us to start?” Harry asks in his low, slow drawl.

“Well, I’ll ask some questions, answer what you want,” James suggests. The two singers both nod. “When did you first meet?” James asks.

“I think everyone in the world knows how we met,” Harry replies looking perplexed.  

“Some people think you already knew each other before X-Factor.” James adds.

“Really?” Louis asks. “I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion. But it's not true,” he adds.

“When Simon Cowell announced that they were putting the five of you in one group and moving you to the group category, Louis, you jumped into Harry’s arms.”

Harry laughs and brings his free right hand up to cover his face. “Seriously?” He and Louis look at each other and giggle. “There were twenty-four or so lads left at that stage. We’d been rehearsing, singing, and dancing together for hours. Of course you get to know someone a little.”

“We’d already had our bathroom encounter,” Louis reminds Harry. Harry groans. Louis looks over at James. “I mean once someone pees on your shoe, you’re more likely to have a conversation with them, right?”

James Corden laughs. “True. So it was just that each of you was a familiar face to the other?” he asks.

Harry nods emphatically. “Yes. I was still a child really when One Direction was created. Just sixteen you know? Still trying to figure myself out. Lou was this larger than life figure.” He glances again at the man beside him. “Honestly, he was overwhelming.”

Louis smirks. “That was just my ADHD coming out,” he jokes and Harry giggles. “Seriously though, I think that is the one thing that has been missed by everyone,” Louis continues. “We were all kids when we met. I was the oldest, but still only 18 going on 19. And Harry had only turned 16 in February. None of us knew what was going to happen.”

“So let's move on then,” James suggests. “You, all five of you, texted each other for a few weeks until a week or 2 before judges’ houses. Then you all spent some time at a house owned by Harry’s stepdad?” he asks to clarify.

“Yes. We all knew enough about each other that we were pretty sure things would work out,” Louis says.

“I’ll say things worked out,” James voices as an aside to the cameras.

**_Fall 2010 - Confession at the Bungalow_ **

_ Harry walked out of his stepfather’s bungalow to the back deck. It was the middle of the night and he couldn’t sleep. He’d heard one of the other lads moving around as well so decided to find out who it was. They’d done nothing but talk and sing in the few days they had been there, simply getting to know each other better and figure out if this group thing would work. Harry was pretty sure it would. He’d been surprised when his name suggestion, One Direction, had been roundly supported by the four other boys. He’d been worried that they wouldn’t take him as seriously since he was the youngest. _

_ Glancing around, he saw a hunched figure on one of the deck chairs. _

_ “Hey Louis,” he said quietly as he approached. “Couldn’t sleep?” Louis was quickly becoming one of Harry’s favourite people. He’d never met someone quite as outgoing, wild and crazy before. Louis was such a fun lad to be around. _

_ Louis sat up when he heard Harry’s voice. Harry noticed Louis wipe at his eyes, but didn’t say anything as he sat down in the chair beside him. _

_ “Hey Haz,” Louis said with a small but genuine smile, “What are you doing up at,” he glanced at his watch, “three AM?” Harry smiled at the nickname. Louis had come up with a nickname for everyone, it was just one of those things he did. _

_ Harry shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. Getting excited about performing for Simon I think.” Louis lost his smile and looked back into the darkness surrounding the yard. _

_ Harry leaned forward in the chair so he could see Louis in the faint light coming from the house. He’d never seen the older lad look anything but confident and happy and he wasn’t sure what to do with a sad Louis. “What’s wrong Lou?” he asked softly. _

_ For some reason he and Louis had instantly connected. Harry didn’t know what it was like to have an older brother, but he thought maybe that’s what their connection was like. Louis only had sisters Harry had learned, so perhaps they filled a need each of them had for a brother. Since meeting in person again a few days earlier Louis had been attentive, charming and considerate of Harry. He didn’t let the other lads pick on Harry, especially about things he didn’t know. _

_ Louis sighed. “I’m wondering if I should quit now, before we go to the judges’ houses,” he admitted softly. _

_ Harry was stunned. “What? Why? Lou? I don’t understand,” he said fearfully. Why would Louis want to quit? Harry wondered. They were so close to making their dreams come true. _

_ Louis looked over at Harry seriously. “If I tell you Haz, I’m afraid you’ll hate me.” Louis didn’t break eye contact as he spoke and Harry knew he meant every word. _

_ Harry knew this was a critical moment in their budding friendship. “Louis,” he said, just as intently, “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I feel that we’re becoming best of friends. You’re so funny, and sincere, and so sure of yourself. I really admire you,” he admitted. “I don’t think there is anything you could tell me that would make me hate you,” he added with a shrug. _

_ “You know I have a girlfriend, Hannah?” Louis began. Harry nodded, all of them had discussed their love lives, or lack thereof. “She was the one who encouraged me to try out for X-Factor.” Louis stood up and began to pace. “We’ve been together for a while now, but…” he trailed off. _

_ “But?” Harry encouraged softly. _

_ “I don’t think I love her. Not love her, love her, you know? She’s a great friend and we have fun, but...” he paused. “I’m not into her.” _

_ Harry nodded. “Okay. So break up. You can find another girl Louis,” he suggested. _

_ Louis took a deep breath and exhaled. “I don’t think I want another girl,” he admitted. _

_ Harry shrugged. “Okay, so find yourself a guy then,” What did it matter? Harry wondered. _

_ Louis stared at him. Harry stared back, then held out his hands and raised his eyebrows in a question. _

_ Louis laughed suddenly in relief. “Are you serious?” he asked. _

_ Harry stood up and stepped over to the older lad. “Is that what you were worried about Lou? Why would I hate you for being gay, or bi, or whatever? Is that why you were thinking of quitting?” _

_ “Mostly,” Louis admitted. Harry pulled him into a tight hug. _

_ “You're an idiot Lou,” Harry said fondly into Louis’ ear. They were basically the same height, but Harry figured he still had a little growing to do. He pulled back and looked into Louis’ blue eyes. “You said mostly.” He moved back over to the chairs pulling Louis with him. “What else?” _

_ Louis sighed. “I...I don't know if my voice is good enough. I mean Liam’s done this before so obviously he’s talented. Zayn has such great tone. Niall is improving all the time, and your voice is incredible Haz. I just don't know if I fit,” Louis admitted one of his biggest fears. _

_ Harry stood up abruptly. “That's bull Lou. Your voice is great. It's so different from the rest of us. I know the focus has been on Liam and I because everyone thinks we have the strongest voices, but all of us fit together.” Harry glared at the older lad. “Honestly Lou, I don’t know if I could do this without you, so just quit it. All five of us are One Direction,” he stated emphatically. _

_ Louis looked at the younger boy. Harry was such a great kid. He was easy going, sweet and considerate. Louis knew without a doubt that Harry Styles was going to be world famous, regardless of what happened with One Direction. Who could resist those dimples? He didn’t need to ask what Harry meant about doing it without Louis. He knew Harry had some insecurities and a bit of stage fright at times. What sixteen year old, performing in front of the entire country, wouldn’t? Louis still wasn’t sure that his voice was good enough, or that if he broke up with Hannah it wouldn’t be a problem. Although he wasn’t that much older than the other lads, Louis was realistic. He had been in show business for a few years. He knew that with Harry’s dimples, Niall’s boy next door looks, Zayn’s exotic features and Liam’s voice their target audience would be girls. _

_ He decided to let the issue drop for now. Who knew how far the group would go? He would deal with Hannah and everything else if and when the time came. “Okay, Haz. You win,” Louis agreed. He stood up next to Harry and reached out to push on the younger boy’s cheek, causing his dimples to appear. “Who can resist a rag mop with dimples?” he added with a grin. Harry laughed. They threw an arm around each other’s shoulders and headed back into the house to try to get some sleep. They knew Liam would have them up early to begin rehearsing again. _


	2. When did feelings change? / Louis falls in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

chapter 2

**When did Feelings Change?**

“So it didn’t bother you Harry, when Louis told you he might be bisexual or gay?” James asks.

Harry shakes his head. “Of course not. I maybe hadn’t thought too much about my own sexuality at that point, but I was raised to accept everyone.”

“I think one of the things that brought all of us together so well, was how we were raised,” Louis adds.

“What do you mean?” James asks.

“All five of us have very strong, liberal minded women in our lives. Our mothers were probably the most influential people in our lives while we were young,” Louis explains. “It was surprising how open minded we all were, as well as having a genuine respect for women. I think that showed up during the last five years. We worked hard to treat everyone with respect and tried not to objectify any of the women or girls in our lives.”

“That's very true Louis. Let's move on to the live shows,” James continues. “At what point did things change between the two of you, and when did you tell the other lads?” he asks.

Louis looks over at Harry with a small smile. “I think things changed for me first,” Louis states.

**_Fall 2010 - Louis Falls in Love_ **

_ Louis rushed back to the house after rehearsal leaving the other boys behind at the practice hall. He didn’t know how much more he could take. In just over a month, his feelings for one curly haired cherub had escalated from fondness to outright love. Louis sat down on his bed abruptly. “I am in love with Harry Styles,” he said aloud to the empty room. “What the hell am I going to do?” he bemoaned. _

_ It was midweek. They had done the Halloween show on Saturday and were currently rehearsing Kids in America for the next live show. He couldn’t believe they had made it to week five. They had the first rehearsal slot that day, so the rest of the day was free. A sudden idea came to him. He grabbed his phone and wallet, pulled a hoodie on and rushed out of the house. It was a short walk to the train station, where he quickly bought a ticket to Northampton. He knew his mother would be willing to listen and give him some advice. _

_ An hour later Liam, Niall, Zayn and Harry tumbled through the door. They had stopped to get takeout, and ran into some fans they just had to stop and chat with. It was such a cool feeling to know that they had fans. _

_ “I’ll go get Louis,” Harry said as he headed up the stairs. “Too bad he missed talking to the fans. That was sick,” he added as he took the stairs two at a time. “Hey Lou…” he exclaimed as he walked into their room. He stopped and looked around. It was empty. Harry headed back downstairs. _

_ “Lou coming?” Liam asked as he and Niall pulled out containers of food to set on the coffee table. _

_ Harry shook his head. “He’s not upstairs. Don’t know where he is,” he added with a shrug. _

_ “Text him,” Niall suggested as he began to eat. “He can’t be too far. He knows we’re not supposed to go off alone.” _

_ Harry pulled out his phone and shot off a quick message to Louis.  _ **_*Back with food. Come eat.*_ **

_ Half an hour later, there was still no sign of Louis and no messages. The boys cleaned up the mess from their food before heading to their room. _

_ “What should we do?” Harry asked as the four lads sat on the bottom bunks to talk. _

_ “I don’t think we have a choice,” Liam said quietly. “We need to let someone at the show know. We don’t know where he is Harry,” he added when Harry started to object. “I know you want to protect him. I know he’s a little scattered at times, he’s so hyper. But he hasn’t answered his phone, and he didn’t tell any of us where he was going.” He paused. “What if something has happened?” Liam hated playing that card, but knew it would get Harry to agree. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with the two boys, but knew they were fiercely protective and loyal to each other. _

_ With the reluctant agreement of the other lads, Liam called Hayden, their liaison at X-factor. He explained what was going on and Hayden said someone would be over shortly. As the lads waited they talked about where Louis could be. _

_ “Was he feeling okay this morning?” Zayn asked. _

_ Harry nodded. “As far as I know. I mean he rushed off right after we finished rehearsing, but I thought he just wanted to enjoy the free time.” _

_ “Maybe that's all he’s doing,” Niall suggested. “Out sightseeing?” _

_ “But why wouldn’t he answer his phone?” _

_ **** _

_ When Louis got off the train a couple of hours later, he grabbed a cab to go to his house. He couldn’t remember if his Mom was working days or nights but it didn’t matter. He was just relieved to see the familiar house. He hadn’t bothered to check his phone the entire trip, too wrapped up in his thoughts. As he opened the front door, his thoughts were once again on Harry. _

_ “Lou?” a voice said from behind him. _

_ Louis turned. At the sight of his mom, tears sprung up in his eyes. He rushed over and wrapped his arms around her as he began to cry. _

_ “Boo? What's wrong honey? What are you doing here?” Jay asked as she a tightly held her oldest child. _

_ Louis cried softly for a few minutes before pulling back and wiping his eyes. He looked at his Mom. “I don’t know what to do Mom,” he said softly. _

_ She looked at him intently for a moment, before leading him to the living room and pulling him down to the couch beside her. “About what Louis?” she inquired gently. _

_ “Um. Well…” he didn’t know where to begin. _

_ “Is this about Harry,” she asked kindly. _

_ Louis’ eyes flew to his mother’s face. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Why would you ask that?” _

_ “Lou. How often do you call or text me?” Jay asked Louis. _

_ “I don’t know. Every day I guess,” he replied. _

_ She nodded. “And in every single conversation, the name Harry has come up,” she explained. “You mention Liam, Niall and Zayn sometimes too. But Harry is part of every conversation.” _

_ Louis dropped his head onto the back of the couch. “Harry Styles.” He rolled his head to look at his mom. “He’s only sixteen Mom. Won’t be seventeen until February. He’s a kid.” _

_ His mom bumped his shoulder. “And you are so ancient at 18 Lou?” _

_ “Almost 19 Mom.” _

_ “So?” she prodded. _

_ Louis closed his eyes. “I realised today that I was falling in love with Harry. And didn’t know what to do. So I jumped on the train and came here. We’re so close Mom. He’s so great. He’s charming, but shy too. He’s so honest. There is no pretense to him. I think some of the stuff is overwhelming for him sometimes, so we cuddle. But I think he just looks up to me. He doesn’t feel the same way I do,” he added sadly. _

_ “Two things Lou. First, does anyone know where you are? Did you tell someone? And second, how do you know how Harry feels if you haven’t talked to him about it?” Johannah asked seriously. Louis shook his head in answer to the first question. He was prepared to deal with the second one. “Okay. Let's call someone right now. You don’t want to get disqualified now that you’ve come so far honey. Alright?” Louis nodded. _

_ **** _

_ “Okay. So we’ve contacted the police, boys. Is there anything else you can think of that might help us find Mr. Tomlinson?” Hayden asked. _

_ Liam, Niall, Harry and Zayn were sitting on the couch together answering questions for Hayden and some other X-Factor personnel. So far no one had been able to track Louis down. Harry was getting more and more worried. They all were. _

_ “No Sir,” Liam answered for them all. “We’ve told you the schedule for today. Louis should have been back here by 11am, we got here just after noon and he was gone. We've tried his cell, but he’s not answering. And it's after 3pm now,” he recapped. _

_ Before Hayden could speak again, his phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said and moved off to the hall to answer it. _

_ “Hello. Hayden speaking….(Hayden, this is Johannah Tomlinson.)...Oh, Mrs. Tomlinson, is there something I can help you with?...(Have you perhaps lost something?)...Louis is with you? May I speak with him?...(Be nice.)” _

_ “Hello, Hayden?” Louis said softly. _

_ Hayden sighed in relief. “Louis, what were you thinking? We’ve been looking everywhere for you. We’ve even contacted the police.” _

_ “I’m...I’m sorry. I just needed to get away for a bit. I just needed to come home. I didn’t mean to worry anyone,” Louis explained. _

_ “Everyone was worried. Especially the other boys,” Hayden added. He heard a sniffle over the phone and realized Louis was quite upset. “Listen Louis, we’ll have to talk when you come back, alright?” _

_ “Okay,” Louis agreed. _

_ “You don’t rehearse until tomorrow afternoon. Stay the night there and catch the train back in the morning okay? Text me your arrival time and I’ll have a car meet you. You’re going to have to talk to some of the bosses, but it will be okay.” _

_ “Thanks Hayden. I’m sorry I created a problem. It won’t happen again,” Louis promised. _

_ Hayden hung up and turned back to the living room. The boys were watching the door intently. _

_ “You heard?” he asked. The four boys nodded. “Okay. If anyone asks, no comment. We don’t need this to become an issue, alright?” They all nodded again. _


	3. Telling the lads and Simon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 3**

**When did you tell the Lads and Simon?**

“So you weren’t sent home to keep you away from Harry?”

Harry and Louis laugh. “No it was all on me,” Louis admits. “After talking with my mom, I decided that I would just continue being friends with Harry. Be his confidant and brother, and let things go. He already knew that I liked boys and it didn’t bother him or stop him from joking around with me. I decided that that would be enough. Honestly we were so busy with the show, I didn’t have time for a relationship,” Louis adds. “That was actually good, because I didn’t have to make a decision about Hannah. At that point only Harry knew I was bisexual.”

“When did that change?”

Louis inhales deeply. “Not as soon as it should have, I guess,” he admits. “I trusted the others. But coming out is still a deeply personal thing. I wasn’t ready. When I got back, I made lame excuses, but no one called me on it. It wasn’t until we were about to sign our contract that I told the other lads, and Simon.”

**_December 2010 - Louis tells_ **

_ Louis and the other four lads of One Direction had been eliminated from the X-Factor competition less than twenty-four hours previous. They gathered in the living room of the house used for the live acts to have a group meeting. _

_ “So from what Simon said last night, I think he wants to sign us,” Liam began. “The question is are we all in it? Do you still want to do this, see where it goes?” _

_ All the boy looked at each other and began talking at once. “Yeah!” “Of course.” “No question!” _

_ Finally the voices died down. “Uh, can I say something?” _

_ Everyone looked over at Louis. “Of course, Lou,” Harry said encouragingly. He had a feeling he knew what Louis was about to say. _

_ Louis took a deep breath. “Haz is the only one to know this. So if any of you decide you’d rather be a group of four, I understand.” _

_ Harry immediately began shaking his head. Niall and Zayn simply looked confused, not having any idea where Louis was going. Louis saw dawning comprehension in Liam’s face. _

_ “I don’t...I’ve never done anything...before we go any further I want you to know…” Harry could see how much Louis was struggling. He lunged across the floor to kneel in front of the older boy and took the smaller hands in his own. _

_ “It's going to be okay, Lou,” Harry murmured. “Just say it.” _

_ “I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual,” Louis blurted out, staring into Harry’s bright green eyes, afraid to look at the other lads. _

_ The other three lads were quiet for a moment. Then Niall spoke up. “Okay. And…” Louis glanced over at Niall. “What’s that got to do with us being a group of four? I don’t understand,” Niall said honestly. _

_ “Niall,” Zayn spoke softly. “Having one of us be gay or bi could affect our success,” he explained gently, then looked over at Louis and Harry. “But that's not an issue for me,” he stated firmly. _

_ “One out of five, may be okay, but what about two?” Liam asked as he stared at the way Harry was holding Louis’ hands. _

_ “Leave Haz out of this Li,” Louis said firmly. _

_ “Lou,” Liam began with a sigh. “You must know I don’t care. But we do have to think this through as a group. I want to be a professional singer. I want to tour the world, and sing in arenas and stadiums. You saw all the girls outside the X-Factor whenever we performed. That's who is going to buy our records, teenage girls.” _

_ Niall and Zayn were looking back and forth between Liam and Louis. Harry was staring angrily at Liam. _

_ “I’m not saying we can’t make this work, but we need to have all the facts,” Liam added, looking again at Harry. _

_ “I’m not bisexual,” Harry said quietly. “I don’t think.” He looked at Louis and shrugged. “I don’t know what I am Liam,” he admitted honestly. “You know I’ve never had sex with anyone before - female or male.” Harry shrugged again. “I just don’t know. Lou and I are close, sure. We fool around a lot, and cuddle. You know I get lonely and scared sometimes. Lou is my best mate.” _

_ Liam smiled kindly at the younger boy. “I know Haz. And I honestly don’t care who is gay, or bi. I just think that if we’re going to make this work, we all need to be honest with each other. We have to stick together.” He waited for Harry and Louis to nod, then looked at the other two lads. They nodded in agreement. “So let's make a pact, that if anything happens or changes with one of us, that could affect the whole group, we have a group meeting and talk about it. We can help and protect each other if we know what's going on.” _

_ “I think that's an excellent idea Payno,” Louis agreed. He stood and pulled Harry to his feet before walking over to Liam. The other boys joined him and the five lads did their pre-performance handshake. _

****

_ The next day the boys were slated to meet with Simon Cowell to talk about signing a contract. Louis contact Syco and asked if he could meet an hour earlier, by himself. Simon agreed. _

_ Louis was shown into Simon’s office by the music mogul’s secretary. Simon looked up from where he was sitting at his large desk and genuinely smiled. _

_ “Louis,” he greeted, standing so he could walk over and shake Louis’ hand. “Good to see you. Have a seat,” he said, indicating one of the chairs in front of his desk. _

_ “Thanks Simon,” Louis said politely. _

_ “I’m quite excited about you boys signing on, you know,” Simon said as he sat back down. “I think you truly have something good happening, and you’ll go far,” he added. He sat back and steepled his fingers in front of him. “So what brings you by ahead of all the others?” _

_ Louis looked out the window for a moment before turning to look at his mentor. “There’s something I thought you should know, before we finalize any contracts,” he explained. _

_ “Okay.” _

_ “The other lads know, but I thought it only fair to tell you upfront as well. I’m bisexual,” Louis blurted out. _

_ Simon pursed his lips as he looked at the young lad, “Okay. And what do you want to do about that?” he asked. _

_ Louis looked confused. “What do you mean?” _

_ Simon sat forward in his chair. “Louis, let's be frank with each other. You have done some acting, been on TV, you have an idea what the showbiz industry can be like.” Louis nodded in agreement. “So, here we have a group of five young lads, clean cut, cute, every parents dream date for their daughter. You and I both know that is what is going to make or break One Direction. Those fans who gathered outside the studios in ever increasing numbers were ninety-nine percent young girls. They are the ones with the spending power in today’s market. I’m not saying that it can’t be done, and I’m not going to make that decision for you. The few examples of boy bands which have had a gay or bisexual member, don’t provide enough evidence to say whether it would impact One Direction as you’re starting your careers. ‘Nsync, Boyzone and Westlife had been around for a few years before their members came out. And we also have the addition of social media which none of those groups had to deal with.” _

_ Louis listened to everything Simon was saying and agreed. It wasn’t like he had a boyfriend. He was still with Hannah at the moment, so what would it accomplish by publicly acknowledging he was bisexual? _

_ “What about Modest?” Louis asked. Modest was the management company X-Factor contestants usually signed with when they signed on with Syco. “Should I tell them?” _

_ Simon nodded. “I think you should Louis. They are going to be a huge part of your lives for the next few years. They will probably do things that you, or the other lads may not agree with, but remember they have your best interests in mind. Since you are the oldest, they will probably promote you as one of the main group speakers; you and Liam due to his previous experience. Niall is the fun lad, Zayn the quiet one, and Harry…” _

_ Louis sat up, wanting to hear what Simon thought about Harry. _

_ “Hopefully they give Harry a chance to discover himself and see where he fits. I know you’ll watch out for him, Louis. He’s such a sweet kid. I don’t want this business chewing him up. It would be a big waste of a huge talent.” _

_ Louis agreed. _


	4. Modest...and Harry's Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**chapter 4**

**Modest? and Harry falling...**

“So Simon was okay with your disclosure that you were bisexual?” James asks.

“Yeah, I think basically he was being realistic, and set out the facts for me,” Louis replies.

“So that brings me to Modest.”

Harry and Louis look at each and a silent conversation happens instantaneously.

“We can’t really say too much about Modest Management,” Louis starts.

“But,” Harry interjects, “One thing I would like to say is that if you look at who runs Modest and how long they have been around...Let's just say, I think the power of social media took them by surprise and they weren’t quite sure how to deal with it. Social media can’t be controlled the way old print and TV sources used to be. I don’t think they adapted very well.”

“And public service announcement, that is our own personal opinion, not anyone else's,” Louis adds jokingly.

“Alright. We might come back to that later. What about you Harry? When did your feelings for Louis, develop?”

**_Dec 2010 - Harry’s Feelings_ **

_ Harry was in his bedroom getting ready to do twitcam. It was Christmas Eve and he was missing Louis. They hadn’t gone longer than a few hours without seeing each other since before the judges’ houses. It was weird. He felt like he was missing a limb. He would think of something and turn to tell Louis and of course Louis wasn’t there. Harry missed the sound of Louis’s voice and the smell of his cologne. Louis always laughed at Harry’s jokes no matter how stupid they were. _

_ He set up the computer on his lap and put a Santa hat on his messy curls. This was the first twitcam he’d ever done by himself and he wasn’t sure it was working. Nothing was showing up on the screen. His Mom, Anne was sitting in his desk chair, watching. Finally responses starting showing up on the chat screen. It was pretty cool. People from a number of different countries were chatting to him. _

_ He scrolled through the messages saying ‘hi’ to people every so often. One message he read made him pause. ‘are you at Louis house?’. He wished he was. Louis made these chats so much more fun. A little while later he tried calling Niall but no luck. _

_ “Sorry,” he said, after reading one message. “Didn’t mean to look miserable. Just a bit tired”, he admitted. He hadn’t been sleeping well since leaving the X-Factor house. Another message made him smile. “Should I ring Louis on his birthday?” he asked aloud. His Mom pointed at the wrapped present on the bedside table. “Does anyone want to see Louis’ Christmas present I got him? It's not his Christmas present it's his birthday present.” He moved over so he could grab the silver wrapped gift and held it in front of the camera. “This is his birthday present.” He moved it around. “Even has a little bow on it. Wrapped it myself,” he announced proudly. Then he read another message out loud. “Call Louis Tomlinson.” He looked at his Mom. She smiled and nodded. He quietly called his best mate. _

_ He couldn’t hide his disappointment when Louis didn’t answer. “It went to answering machine,” he said aloud. “Get rejected on Christmas Eve.” He covered his face with his hand. “This is bad times.” He continued with the twitcam for the full 30 minutes. Gemma stopped by at one point and said hi. White Christmas was on the television and he turned it up to fill in a little time. It was hard to know what to talk about. Louis was so much better at filling the silences. Just before the computer died Harry said, “Can’t work properly without my boys. It just doesn't feel right.” _

_ He closed the laptop and looked at his Mom. “You don’t look very happy baby, how come?” she asked. Harry shrugged and glanced back at the tv. “Missing the other lads?” Harry pursed his lips and nodded. It was weird. He had other friends that he didn’t see for weeks or sometimes months, and while he missed them, it wasn’t the same. It had only been a couple days since the boys went their separate ways and they would see each other right after Christmas. And it was Louis he was missing the most. _

_ His phone started ringing on the bed beside him. He glanced down at it and a brilliant smile crossed his face as he grabbed the phone to answer. “Hello?” _

_ “Hey Haz,” Louis’ recognizable voice said. “Did you call me earlier?” he asked. _

_ Harry grinned. “Yeah. I was doing my twitcam but didn't know what to do so tried calling people. No one answered!” he whined. “It was hard doing it by myself. You make it so much more fun!” _

_ “Yeah, I know. I had Stan with me when I did mine. It’s better having someone else to talk to.” Louis said. Harry didn’t like the feeling he got when Louis mentioned Stan. It wasn’t fair that Stan got to be with Louis over Christmas and Harry couldn’t. _

_ “I really miss you Haz,” Louis said quietly. “I asked my Mom if maybe we could go away together with you and Anne. But she said it was too short notice.” Harry brightened when he heard Louis was missing him too. _

_ “Oh that would have been sick,” he exclaimed. “Maybe next year?” _

_ “Brilliant. Maybe after the X-Factor tour we can take a trip. I’ve always wanted to go skiing,” Louis responded. _

_ “I’d love that,” Harry replied honestly. _

_ They chatted for a few more minutes before saying goodbye. They would see each other again in London on the 27th to start preparing for the tour. _

_ “You really like Louis, don’t you baby?” Anne asked Harry once he was off the phone. _

_ Harry smiled brightly. “Yeah, he’s great!” _

_ Anne stared at Harry for a moment. “Is it more than that Harry?” she asked gently. “I don’t care if it is baby,” she added quickly, not wanting her only son to be afraid of his feelings. _

_ Harry’s immediate reaction was to ask what she meant, but he stopped himself. He knew exactly what she was asking. He just didn’t know the answer. Harry shrugged. “I don’t know Mom. I know I really miss him. More than I miss the other three.” He paused to think. “He makes me laugh. He gives great cuddles,” he added softly with a little smile. Sometime Harry got homesick and Louis would crawl in behind him on the bed and simply hold him, stroke his hair and whisper silly things until he fell asleep. He liked being the little spoon. _

_ Anne stood up and patted Harry on the foot. “I think you might have a crush on him love. And that's okay. You’ve never met someone quite as gregarious as him before. Maybe talk to him when you see each other next. Whatever happens, I think he’ll be a good friend to you. I feel comfortable knowing he’s looking out for you.” She leaned down to kiss Harry’s cheek. “Merry Christmas Love. Have a good night and I’ll see you in the morning.” _

_ Harry smiled and nodded before snuggling down in his bed. Did he have a crush on Louis? The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Louis was constantly in his thoughts, and in his dreams. Harry felt himself blush as he thought about the dream he’d had the night before. He realized now that Louis had been the star attraction and he’d woken up needing to change his pyjamas. _

_ **** _

_ A couple of days later, back in London Harry was fighting a cold. So when all of the lads, plus some of the other top ten performers wanted to go out on a day off, Harry decided to stay in. _

_ “Lou are you going with the other lads?” Harry asked hoarsely. His throat was sore and he felt terrible. He just wanted to stay in bed, drink tea and watch movies. _

_ Louis looked at the younger boy and shook his head. “Nah, thought I would stay and keep you company Haz.” He walked over to where Harry was stretched out on the couch, still wearing his pyjamas. Reaching down Louis put the back of his hand on Harry’s forehead. His Mom had told him it was a better way of telling if someone was warm due to fever. “Anything I can get you?” he asked gently, removing his hand, pleased that Harry didn’t feel overly hot. _

_ “More tea?” Harry asked softly, looking at Louis with puppy dog eyes. _

_ Louis smiled sweetly. “Sure thing Haz,” Louis agreed and went to the kitchen to make more tea. When he returned Harry sat up giving Louis room to sit beside him. _

_ Louis handed over the steaming cup. “Thanks Lou,” Harry rasped. Louis just bumped shoulders with the younger boy and grabbed the remote for the TV. Harry sipped his tea, absently watching the TV as Louis flipped through the channels. He was wondering how to talk to Louis about things. _

_ “Can I ask you something Lou?” he began. _

_ “You just did!” Lou joked. Harry giggled. “What is it?” Louis asked. _

_ Harry stared at his tea before peering up at Louis from beneath his mass of curls. “Um, remember what you told me, at Robin’s house?” Harry asked softly. Louis nodded, not sure where Harry was going. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately,” Harry admitted. He took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot, Lou.” _

_ “Haz…” Louis began, but Harry interrupted. _

_ “I thought about you over Christmas Lou, and talked to my Mom, and really missed you and realized that I really, really like you,” Harry spouted all in one breath, faster than Louis had ever heard the boy speak. Harry stared at Louis trying to gauge his reaction. _

_ Louis turned and took the cup of tea from Harry, setting it on the coffee table before grasping Harry’s hands in his own. “Harry, Haz,” Louis began. Harry ducked his head, waiting for the rejection. Why would Louis Tomlinson, who could have anyone he wanted in the world, feel anything more than friendship for someone like Harry? “Haz, look at me,” Louis instructed. Harry looked up. “Listen. This is not a no, okay?” Harry started to grin. “But,” Louis continued, “but I need you to listen. We are starting on a tour of the UK, with the other lads. This X-Factor tour can make our careers. If it goes well, we’ll get to tour other countries, make our own albums, and become really successful.” Harry nodded as Louis spoke, agreeing with what he was saying. “We have to be focused. To succeed, just like at the judge’s house and each week on the show, we need to focus, on the music, our voices, and the group.” Louis brushed a curl from Harry’s face. “I like you a lot too Haz, but you’re so young. We both are. And we have so much going on right now.” Louis frowned. “What would happen to One Direction if we got together but broke up a few months from now, or a year from now? How would that affect the band? The other lads?” _

_ Harry looked confused. “So what does that mean Lou?” _

_ Louis pulled Harry into a hug. “It means we like each other, and we continue as we have, at least for now. We can still hang out, cuddle, do what we’ve been doing. Let’s see how things work out for the band this year and see what happens.” _

_ “We can still cuddle?” Harry wanted to clarify. _

_ Louis grinned and turned to lean against the arm of the couch, pulling Harry to sit between his knees. He wrapped his arms around the younger boy and Harry snuggled close. “Always Haz,” Louis whispered kissing the top of Harry’s mass of curls. _


	5. Recent events/Always in my Heart/Caroline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 5**

**Recent Events**

“Before we go back through your history and ask a whole lot of other questions, can we talk about Christmas and New Year's?” James asks. “There was a plethora of stories written about Louis’ birthday, Danielle Campbell and Kendall Jenner.”

Harry laughs. “Do you carry on your relationship with your wife through Twitter or Facebook? I mean, the media crap that was published on Louis’ birthday was ridiculous. Niall and Liam tweeted out a happy birthday to Louis, so of course I had to be ignoring him since the PUBLIC didn’t see anything from me.” He shakes his head. “Did anyone notice how no one mentioned where I was over Christmas? Perhaps because they didn’t know where I was, like in Doncaster, wishing Louis a very personal happy birthday. We had to pretend in public that we were nothing more than bandmates, bandmates that didn’t really like each other. We would pretend all day, then laugh about it, together all night.”

“Danielle was a Modest thing,” Louis interjects. James looks at him to continue. “I had to hang with her in December once we were done with our performances, then again after Christmas. Haz and I got Christmas day and that was it. He had to fly out to a wedding for Gem’s friend, and he wasn’t allowed to come back to London right away.”

Harry picks up the story. “I was planning to meet my mom in Anguilla for a few days. I ran into Kendall there. We talked. We are friends and have been for a few years. She told me her plans, hanging with friends on a yacht and invited me along. She also mentioned that Ellen and Portia would be coming around to talk about their experiences with coming out,” Harry laughs. “Turns out Modest didn't know about that part! They were so happy to see I was going to hang with Kendall, they let the paps know.” He glances at Louis. “I think we put on a good show!”

“Too good,” Louis mutters.

“Louis?” James asks.

Louis shakes his head. “Despite trusting Harry completely, I was jealous and went a little overboard during the hols,” he admits. Harry gives him a squeeze. “The pressure of having to fake a relationship, being so far away from the man I love…” he shrugs. “I partied a little too much and felt as bad as I looked.”

“You didn't look that bad, love,” Harry murmurs.

**Twitter - Always in my Heart**

“So let's talk about  **the** tweet,” James says.

Harry and Louis look at each and laugh. “Which one?” they ask simultaneously, then laugh again.

“Too true. Let's start with you Louis. ‘Always in my heart.’ you tweeted that to Harry on October second 2011. Since then it has become one of the most retweeted tweets ever.”

Louis nods his head. “I'd heard that.” He squeezes Harry’s hand as the younger man looks sad. “That was one of the first rough points we'd encountered, but certainly not the last. I'd finally broken things off with Hannah a few months earlier. I thought that was it. Unfortunately management had other ideas. They didn't want me to be single, there was already too many questions about my sexuality floating around.  Floating around Harry. Especially since we were sharing a flat. And our single was about to be released.” Louis’ mouth twists ruefully. “I got called in to talk with Modest. They wanted me to find a new girlfriend. Eleanor, who, by the way, is an absolutely lovely girl, was their answer.”

“Okay, but that still doesn't explain the tweet.”

Harry speaks up then. “We argued. I was only 17, and still rather naive about the business. I didn't think Louis should have to hide. Honestly, I thought he should come out if he wanted. But Louis was always thinking about the group and agreed to go out with Eleanor. The tweet was an apology.”

“So you weren't involved with Louis at that point?”

Harry shakes his head. “I was in love with him, but we weren't more than close friends at the time. Lou was still trying to do the right thing, trying to protect me.”

“I admit I was wrong. We'd been living in each other’s back pockets for a year, all five of us. I know I'm loud, brash, sassy as people like to say. I was worried that my personality was too much. I didn't want to influence him. I wanted him to find his own way.”

“Instead you broke my heart,” Harry murmurs quietly with a rueful smile.

Louis turns and tucks his face against Harry’s neck, whispering quietly to the younger man. Harry runs his hand gently down the back of Louis’ head and whispers in response. After a few moments they separate, Louis sitting back in his seat.

“Sorry about that,” he says hoarsely, clearing his throat.

 

**_Jan 2012 - Caroline Flack_ **

_ Louis reached over and grabbed his vibrating cell from the bedside table. “‘lo?” he murmured. _

_ “Lou?” Harry’s voice was low and raspy. Louis immediately knew Harry was upset. He sat up quickly. “I did it Lou,” Harry sobbed. “I slept with her.” Louis inhaled sharply. He knew Harry was talking about Caroline. “I hated it! I hated it Lou,” Harry shouted through his sobs. _

_ Louis felt his own eyes well up as he heard how upset his boy was. “Harry. Hazza, listen to me,” he said insistently. He could hear Harry breathing deeply, trying to stop crying. “Are you listening Haz?” Louis asked gently. _

_ “Yeah,” came the quiet whisper. _

_ “I want you to come home, right now. Okay? Call a taxi Haz and come home,” Louis instructed. _

_ Harry sniffled. “Okay,” he agreed quietly. _

_ “I’ll be waiting Haz,” Louis promised. Once Harry hung up, Louis got out of bed and threw some track pants on before heading to the kitchen. He put the kettle on and sat at the kitchen table to wait. _

_ This was a mess. It was exactly what he’d been afraid of. Harry was so kind, and sensitive, and always wanted to please everyone. Louis had tried to protect Harry from the stupid games management played. That's why he’d agreed to go out with Eleanor. Heaven forbid two single lads live in the same house. That was Modest’s thinking. So the choice given was someone move out, or get a girlfriend. Louis didn’t want Harry to live on his own yet, he was too young. So Louis agreed to a girlfriend. _

_ Unfortunately, someone talked to Harry. Convinced him that Louis and Eleanor were getting serious. Harry had decided that if he couldn’t have Louis, he’d find someone else. He was vulnerable, hurt and angry. Louis felt that Caroline took advantage. Why would a woman in her thirties want to date a seventeen year old boy? It was strange. _

_ Louis’ eyes welled up as he realized that his Hazza’s first time, had likely been nothing more than a publicity stunt. Harry should only ever be loved, not part of someone’s game. _

_ He walked over to the boiling kettle and pour the water into the teapot. He’d made a decision. No more pushing Harry away. He’d been in love with him for over a year. Harry had said he loved Louis. Why was Louis holding back? No more. He knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to be together, but Harry was worth the risk. _

_ He heard the front door open and walked out of the kitchen to see Harry hang up his jacket in the closet. Harry looked up and saw Louis watching. Louis was shocked at how terrible Harry looked. His hair was a mess, his eyes bloodshot, and face pale. Louis held open his arms and Harry ran into them. Despite Harry having grown to be a couple of inches taller than Louis, Louis wrapped his arms around the younger boy. Harry tucked his face into Louis’ neck and began to cry. _

_ Louis lead them both into the living room and over to the couch. He sat, pulling Harry into his lap, never releasing his hold. “Shh, Haz, babe,” Louis murmured, stroking up and down Harry’s back. “It's okay love. It's done. No one can make you do it again if you don’t want to alright?” he whispered. “I’m sorry love, so sorry.” _

_ Harry’s crying subsided and he sniffled a few times. Louis reached over to the end table and grabbed a couple of tissues from the box sitting there. “Here love,” he said gently, pressing them into Harry’s hands. Harry turned, bringing his feet up to rest on the couch, so he was sitting completely sideways, his back against the arm of the couch. Using the tissues he wiped his eyes and blew his nose before throwing the dirty tissues onto the floor. _

_ “Hey!” Louis objected. “You would kill me for doing that,” he joked. _

_ Harry smiled a watery smile. “I’d make an exception if you were crying,” he whispered. _

_ Louis pulled Harry in tight, pushing the lad’s head down against his shoulder. “Ok. Just this once,” he murmured. He gently kissed Harry’s curly locks. _

_ Harry rested one arm around Louis’ shoulders and the other petted Louis chest. He plucked at the worn t-shirt worn by the older boy. _

_ “I thought it was supposed to be good,” he whispered in confusion. _

_ “It is love,” Louis said quietly. “When it's with the right person, at the right time,” he added. “Haz, some people can sleep with anyone and enjoy it, and move one. Other people, like you, need more. There needs to be a genuine connection, real feelings I think for you to truly enjoy sex. I don’t see you as someone who can sleep around.” _

_ “What kind of person are you,” Harry asked so quietly Louis almost didn’t hear him. _

_ Louis squeezed Harry tightly and put his lips beside Harry’s ear. “I’m someone who needs a real connection love. I need to have genuine feelings for the person to truly enjoy sex.” _

_ Harry pulled away so he could turn and look directly at Louis. “I don’t want to sleep with anyone else Lou,” he said honestly. “Only you. I love you.” _

_ Louis reached out to stroke Harry’s cheek. “I know. I love you too Haz. I’m sorry everything has got all messed up. I know you don’t think I should hide. But it's best for the group. In public, I need to be what everyone wants.” He leaned forward slightly to lightly brush his lips over Harry’s. “In private though, I want to be what you want,” he added. _

_ Harry’s eyes widened in surprise. Every previous conversation they had had about their feelings, Louis had wanted to keep things platonic, not wanting to threaten the band’s success, and believing Harry was too young. “Lou?” _

_ “I love you Harry Styles,” Louis said honestly. “I have loved you since I was 18 and we’d only know each other a few months. You are the sweetest, most open and honest person I’ve ever met and it scares me,” Louis admitted. _

_ “I scare you?” Harry asked in confusion. _

_ Louis laughed softly and moved forward to kiss Harry’s nose. “Like crazy. You are going to be a superstar Haz,” Louis said, brushing the hair from Harry’s eyes. “Already, the attention is so much focused on you, your style, and your looks. The push is on to paint you as the biggest flirt and womanizer. And you could have anyone, male or female, in the world. Why would you want this short, brash Donny boy?” _

_ “Lou,” Harry blushed in embarrassment. _

_ “It's true Haz. Since we signed with Columbia, there is a push on by Modest to fit us all into these little boxes. You know America isn’t as accepting of gays as the UK.  I’ve been paying closer attention to what’s going on,” Louis admitted. _

_ Harry reached out and grasped Louis’ face in his larger hands. “This brash, sassy Donny boy is all I have wanted for almost a year. Despite me growing taller, you are still the perfect big spoon to my little spoon. You make me laugh, you make me feel safe, and you make me feel loved.” He gently kissed Louis’ mouth. “I don’t care what they want us to do in public. I’ll learn how to be a better actor, I’ll try to learn how to lie if necessary. In private, I just want to be Haz and Lou.” _

_ Louis nodded and gently pushed Harry off his lap. Harry stood and pulled Louis to his feet. Louis grabbed Harry’s hand. “I’ve got tea made. Let's grab a cup and then go cuddle in bed. It's late. We can talk about all of this and what it means for us, in the morning.” _

_ The two lads each poured a cup of tea and walked together to Louis’ bedroom. Harry stripped down to his boxer briefs and crawled into the plush king sized bed. Louis climbed in the other side after shedding his track pants. Once the tea was gone, the two boys instinctively moved together. Harry turned on his side facing away from Louis. Louis tucked himself tightly behind Harry until they were touching almost from knees to shoulders. He wrapped his arms around Harry. While they had continued to occasionally snuggle while on tour, Louis had been gradually pulling away so their cuddles became fewer and further apart. _

_ “I’ve missed this,” he murmured against Harry’s bare shoulder. “I’m sorry I made it so hard for both of us.” _

_ “‘s okay,” Harry whispered sleepily. “We’re here now.” _


	6. GQ interview

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 6**

**GQ Interview**

“So you slept with Caroline Flack?” James asks to clarify.

Harry nods. “Once.”

“So that brings up some questions about comments you made in a GQ interview in July 2013. Do you remember it?” James asks.

Harry nods again. “Yeah. That was probably the last time management ever let me do an interview by myself.” He laughs. “Although the ‘controlling influence’ they thought Liam and Niall had over me certainly started to fade during the last couple of years.”

James laughs. “We’ll get to that shortly.” He looks at his pages of notes. “So GQ asked you about Nick Grimshaw, and if you were bisexual?”

Harry grins. “Among other things.”

**_July 2013 - GQ at O2_ **

_ Harry paced along the secluded corridor of the O2, staring at his phone. His was scheduled to do an interview with GQ magazine in a couple of minutes, but Louis and Zayn hadn’t arrived yet. He knew he should have gone with Louis to pick up Zayn. Then they could all be late for the interview together. _

_ He sighed as a message finally dinged.  _ **_*Accident in Blackwell Tunnel, going to be late.*_ ** _ Louis texted. _

_ Harry took a deep breath and put his phone away. He’d have to go it alone. He knew he could, having gone through so much training from Modest personnel. He knew how to feed reporters the BS stories they had been given, and if all else fails just be charming. _

_ Plastering a smile on, Harry walked into the room with the purple sofas and records tacked to the walls. He introduced himself to the GQ reporter and shook hands. _

_ “Nice to meet you, I’m Harry Styles. The other lads, Louis and Zayn, have been held up by an accident in the tunnel but should be along shortly.” _

_ “No problem. We can just get started with you?” the reporter, Jonathan, said. _

_ Harry glanced at the Modest PR rep for confirmation then nodded and sat down, trying to get comfortable. “Sure.” _

_ “So,  _ _ what do you make of the rumours about you and Nick Grimshaw?” the reporter asked, getting right to it. _

_ Harry looked genuinely perplexed. “What rumours would they be?” _

_ The reporter told Harry that supposedly he and Nick were rumoured to be an item. Harry laughed and easily denied it. He and Grimmy were friends. Nick had been someone he could talk to or hang out with when Louis was away. _

_ “So you're not bisexual?” the reporter asked next. _

_ From the corner of his eye, Harry saw the Modest rep flinch. Harry managed not to express any shock at the question. He was just thankful the reporter hadn’t asked something else because while he could obfuscate, he still couldn’t outright lie very well. He pretended to think for a brief moment and shook his head. “Bisexual? Me? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I'm not.” _

_ The next few questions were about rumours, drinking and being famous. Harry easily answered each one. He laughed inside as he answered, “I’ve learnt how to keep things separate or at a distance. I've nothing to hide. But seeing this as work, like a job, means I can take a step back. It's me right now in front of you and in the papers but it's not all of me.” _

_ The reporter then asked him about who he had slept with. The questions made Harry uncomfortable, but he forced himself to remain calm. He refused at first to answer how many people he had slept with. He didn’t want to lie, and knew that the real number wouldn’t match the image Modest had painted of him. _

_ “Say "yes" or "no". Less than 100?” the reporter asked. _

_ One hundred? Harry was horrified. “No!” _

_ “So higher than 100?” _

_ Crap! Now he had to respond. “No, it's definitely less than 100…” _

_ The more the reporter asked the more uncomfortable Harry felt. “I'm not doing this! You're cornering me!” He finally said, looking over at the Modest rep to see if they would step in. No luck. _

_ The reporter continued to push. “Come on you're a rock star. OK, less than ten.” _

_ Harry had had enough. “Yes. Two people. I've only ever had sex with two people,” he stated emphatically. He hoped the reporter didn’t ask who the two people were. _

_ The reporter grinned and said he didn’t believe Harry. “Well, that's my answer. Read from it what you will!” Harry replied, ready to get up and walk out. Thankfully the door opened at that moment and Louis walked in with Zayn right behind. Somehow Louis could see Harry was uncomfortable and pulled the reporter’s attention to himself, letting Harry move away. _


	7. More tweets answered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 7**

**More Tweets answered**

“Let's talk about another tweet. From September 2012.  **‘…Larry is the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. I’m happy, why can’t you accept that.’** pretty harsh message to your fans Louis.”

Louis nods. “Yeah, it was. Despite the fact that I didn’t actually write that tweet, I don't regret the underlying message. There was so much ‘Larry Stylinson’ going on by fans that mainstream media picked it up. We were getting questions about it from regular reporters and it was tough. We couldn't admit anything obviously as our contract prevented that. But constantly facing questions about it was harder. We were expected to lie.” He looks lovingly at Harry. “And one thing people got right about my dear Harold is that he is a terrible liar. So combining his inability to lie, and my desire to not outright lie, meant coming up with some creative answers.”

“Like making a joke of it?”

Louis nods again. “Yes.  That whole ‘people genuinely believe that we're together, can you imagine?’ It didn't deter the diehard fans but it was enough for the more mainstream media.”

“You said you didn’t write the tweet?” James asks, referring to Louis’ earlier comment.

“No. Management had access to all of our social media accounts,” Louis glances at Harry. “That’s all I’m willing to say right now.”

“I don’t think anyone can really understand what it's like to have your entire relationship deconstructed in social media,” Harry states slowly, trying to redirect the conversation.

“What do you mean Harry?” James asks.

“Well the more the fans pushed and wrote about ‘Larry’ the more management pushed back.” Harry runs his hand through his long hair. “Where once we were allowed to interact on stage, being all cute and everything, management started to put limits on our interactions. When Louis said it was affecting how he and I behave in public he meant it. Imagine being told you are not allowed to stand beside, look at, touch, or communicate with your wife when you are in public.”

James nods. “That would be hard,” he agrees.

“We made it into a game,” Louis admits. “Who could be the best actor for the day? We had to make all of our contact and communication private.”

**Wedding rumours**

“Okay, let’s move on,” James says. He looks at some sheets of paper on his desk. “There was a series of tweets in September 2013 involving Ed Sheeran, you two, and Anne, Harry’s Mom.”

Harry blushes and covers his face with his hand. Louis smiles tenderly at his love. “Yeah, that was one of my better plans,” Louis smirks.

**September 2013**

_ They were waiting for the plane to take them from Adelaide to Perth. The band had two days off before the concert on the twenty-eighth. Louis was messing around on his phone, Harry and Niall were playing a video game, Zayn was sleeping and Liam was somewhere else. Noting that Harry was distracted, Louis decided to deal with an idea that had been simmering in his mind for months. He DM’d Ed Sheeran. _

**_*Hey Red, its Tommo, got a sec?*_ **

_ Less than a minute later Ed replied.  _ **_*What’s up?*_ **

**_*You and Haz have some pretty intense talks right?*_ ** _ Louis typed. _

**_*Sure. He’s a deep lad. Why?*_ ** _ Ed responded. _

_ Louis decided to simply dive right in.  _ **_*Have you talked marriage?*_ **

**_*He’s not my type.*_ ** _ Ed was quick to respond.  _ **_*jk*_ ** _ There was a pause before Ed started typing again.  _ **_*You know him better than me Lou, talk to him.*_ ** _ Louis knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer from Ed. Ed was Harry’s confidante, like Liam was for Louis.  _ **_*Want a hint?*_ ** _ Ed messaged.  _ **_*Read my tweets on Saturday. Gotta run.*_ **

_ “What the hell?” Louis thought. _

_ Before he could try to message Ed back, their security came to round them up for the plane. Thankfully it was a short trip from Adelaide to Perth and they had some downtime as the road crew were driving and it was a two day trip. _

_ By the time the boys all settled into their hotel rooms at the Crown Metropol where they would be staying it was the early morning hours of Thursday and everyone just crashed. As per Modest orders, none of them officially shared rooms, they each had their own Loft, with a bedroom and living room and a massive balcony. As was usual; however, either Harry or Louis would crash in the other’s room. This time it was Louis’. _

_ When Louis woke up in the early afternoon, Harry was not around. Louis was thankful as he had a lot to think about. He ordered room service, then pondered what to do as he stretched out on one of the sofas in his living room. He knew they were young. He was almost 22, and Harry was going on 20. But he also knew that despite all the hiding, the bearding, and the stupid media, Harry was what he wanted. Louis was pretty sure Harry felt the same way. He knew they couldn’t actually get married yet. It would be too easy for a fan or reporter to find their marriage license. Hell, he couldn’t even give Harry a ring. _

_ Louis sat up and grabbed his laptop from the coffee table. He walked over and flicked the coffee maker on while he waited for the laptop to startup. He logged in, poured himself a coffee, and then opened a locked file he had. It was full of lyrics, pieces of songs, ideas for songs. Scrolling through, he found the one song that was almost done. He started to quietly sing what he had written. _

**_And it's alright_ **

**_Calling out for somebody to hold tonight_ **

**_When you're lost, I'll find the way_ **

**_I'll be your light_ **

**_You'll never feel like you're alone_ **

**_I'll make this feel like home_ **

_ He worked on it for a while as he ate, before texting Liam.  _ **_*Got a few minutes?*_ **

_ A couple of minutes later there was a knock at the door. Louis let Liam in, “Thanks bro.” He directed Liam to the sofa where he’d been sitting. “Got a song I’ve been working on, wanted your input,” Louis said nervously. _

_ Liam glanced at Louis before looking at the computer. He silently scrolled through the lyrics, reading them to himself. “You sure you want my help?” he asked intently. Louis figured Liam knew what the song was about. _

_ Louis nodded. “‘Course Li. You have a way of fixing things and organizing that I don’t,” he admitted honestly. _

_ Liam nodded. He started to rearrange things. He took a verse and made it a bridge to the chorus. The chorus he left unchanged. When he was done, he sat back and looked at Louis. “It’s good Lou. He’s going to love it.” _

_ Louis laughed. “Knew you figured it out.” He sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes. “Now if I could just figure out what I’m going to do…” _

_ Liam snorted. “You know Lou. It’s just a matter of when.” _

_ Louis laughed again. “Yeah. I think I’m going to call Anne before Harry comes to find out why I’ve been moody. Can you keep him busy for a little bit and maybe let Niall and Zayn know what I’m planning?” _

_ Liam patted Louis’ knee. “Sure.” He headed out, leaving Louis to make a phone call. _

_ Louis picked up his phone looking at the time. It was almost 4pm, which would make it 8am in London. He searched his contacts until he found Anne. Taking a deep breath he pushed the call button and waited. _

_ “Hello Louis. Is something wrong?” Anne answered. _

_ Louis laughed quietly. “No Anne, love, everything is fine. Harry’s fine.” _

_ “Good to know,” she replied. “So how are you Louis?” _

_ “Good, good,” he answered quickly. “Um...there is a reason for my call, Anne,” he admitted. “Is Robin there by chance?” _

_ The line was silent for a moment. “I’ve put you on speaker, Louis. Robin is here,” Anne said. _

_ “Hi Louis,” Robin’s voice came through. _

_ Louis took another deep breath. “Okay, good. Um, you...well...you both know how much Haz, Harry means to me, right? I mean we’ve known each other for three years now and I know things were a little rocky early on, but you know how much I respect him and care about him.” Louis paused to take a breath. “I know we are both really young, and things are so crazy right now and probably will be for a few years at least but…” _

_ “But what Louis?” Robin asked. Louis thought he could hear Anne quietly crying in the background. _

_ “I want to ask him Sir,” Louis stated firmly. “I want to ask Harry to marry me. Even if that doesn’t happen for years. I want to make it as official as we can at this time. And I’d like your support,” he added. _

_ The line was silent again, but Louis could hear sniffling. “Anne?” he asked tentatively. He knew that if Anne objected, he would not ask Harry. He wouldn’t put his boyfriend in that position. _

_ “Louis,” Anne said softly. “I’ve known you just a long as Harry has. I’ve seen your connection grow over the years. And I’ve seen you both mature into fine young men. You know Harry better than anyone, and you understand him. I don’t know if anyone would be better for him than you.” She laughed. “You have to promise me you will call once he says yes!” _

_ Louis laughed in relief. “I will Anne. I promise. I don’t know when I’m going to ask, but I’ll let you know when it happens. Thank you. Both of you.” They said their goodbyes and Louis disconnected the call. He pondered what to do. They had another day off tomorrow. Could he plan something that soon? He did some quick research on his computer before shutting it down. He needed a little help to implement his plan. _

_ Out in the hall, he could see two of their security, Paul and Travis, near the elevators, keeping people off the floor of suites One Direction had booked. He walked over to the two older men who had become like family. Louis looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, especially someone from Modest. _

_ “So lads,” Louis began with a big smile. _

_ “No,” Paul said before Louis could continue. _

_ Louis laughed. “Come on Paulie, you don’t know what I was going to say.” _

_ “Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be trouble,” Paul stated. Travis laughed. Both men knew Louis was the mischievous one and found himself in trouble regularly. _

_ Louis frowned. “Maybe,” he admitted. “But it’s for Harry.” _

_ Both men sighed and looked at each other. It was hard to say no to anything for Harry. He was such a polite, unassuming lad. Always willing to do anything for anyone. He treated everyone with respect and always had a genuine smile for every person. _

_ “Okay, let’s hear it,” Paul agreed. _

_ “Tomorrow night, just before dusk, I want Harry and I to sneak out for a walk. There is an island, Heirisson Island, out in the river. I want us to be able to go for a private walk along the trails for a couple of hours.” _

_ “That’s all?” Paul asked skeptically. “C’mon Louis, be honest. We’re willing to help you out here, but we need all the details.” _

_ Louis sighed. “Fine. The other lads know, but you cannot say a word to anyone else. Not even the other guys.” The security men nodded. “I’m going to propose,” Louis stated bluntly and defiantly. He held up his hand when Paul went to speak. “Yeah, yeah, I know I can’t give him a ring, or jewelry. I know we’re not getting married anytime soon. But I want to make us official. I think it will help both of us deal with the crap. You know it’s just going to get worse the more popular we get,” he said, looking intently at both men. _

_ Louis’ biggest fear was that all the crap would change Harry. He already noticed small things, Harry was a little less open in interviews, and when talking to fans. He didn’t interact with fans as much on social media. It was inevitable that those changes would become more pronounced the more famous they became. Louis wanted to be the one thing Harry could hold on to, regardless of what was happening around them. _

_ Paul reached out and placed his hand on Louis’ shoulder. “Okay. We’ll figure something out. We’ll come find you when it’s time.” _

_ Deciding there was nothing more he could do, Louis decided to find the other lads. He could hear loud laughing and shouting coming from a room a couple of doors down. That’s where he found the other four lads, involved in a raucous game of FIFA. He secretly gave Liam a thumbs up before walking over to hug his boyfriend from behind. _

_ The boys goofed around most of the evening enjoying the private pool and rooftop deck. Later in the evening Niall and Harry decided to go check out the casino. Louis took that opportunity to rehearse his song, with Liam and Zayn’s help. _

_ **** _

_ Friday was almost a repeat of Thursday. The boys all took it easy, swimming, napping, and jamming with Niall on his guitar. Louis noticed at different times through the day Paul or Travis talking with Niall, Liam and Zayn. He assumed they were going to be part of the plan. _

_ Finally, around 5pm Paul came out and told them they all needed to get dressed for a meeting. The boys all met in Liam’s room by 6pm. Another of their security guys, Patrick, came and got Liam, Niall and Zayn. They were going to create a distraction at the front of the hotel. _

_ Harry was looking confused. “What’s going on?” he asked the room. _

_ Louis grinned. “Trust me Love. You’ll see,” he explained, reaching to take Harry’s hand. Harry accepted the gesture willingly. _

_ After a few minutes wait, Paul and Travis returned. They were carrying 4 baseball caps and four matching jackets. Louis laughed. “This might just work,” he admitted. He turned to Harry. “Can you put your hair up under the hat?” he asked. Harry nodded. Louis, Paul and Travis donned their caps and put on the team jackets. Louis handed the fourth jacket to Harry. _

_ “Ready Love?” Louis asked. _

_ “For what?” Harry responded looking at Louis. _

_ “We’re going out for an evening stroll along the river,” Louis explained. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn’t say anything, trusting Louis and their security. _

_ Once they were all dressed and had donned sunglasses they headed to the elevators. Paul pushed the button for the second floor. Louis looked at him but Paul just smirked. They exited the elevator and walked along the second floor until they reached the stairwell. The four men went down the stairs and out a back service door that locked behind them. _

_ They strolled across the crowded parking lot, and around the edge of the pond, cutting across the grass over to the riverside path. Paul and Travis walked on the left, closest to the casino and the road, allowing Harry and Louis to be closer to the river. _

_ “It’s beautiful here,” Harry murmured, bumping shoulders with Louis. Louis glanced at his lover, loving the peaceful smile that graced Harry’s features. All of them had fallen in love with Australia the first time they visited, and loved coming back to tour. _

_ They walked past the outdoor movie theatre. The movies weren’t shown until after dark so there wasn’t a crowd of people to worry about. The path moved southwest under the causeway. As they climbed the stairs so they could walk across the causeway, Paul and Travis moved to the other side so they were closer to the road. Louis pointed out the island. _

_ “That’s where we’re going,” he murmured quietly to Harry. “There are kangaroos there, according to the website,” he added. _

_ Harry laughed. “Sick!” _

_ Dusk was getting closer and Louis could tell it would be a spectacular sunset. Once across the causeway they followed the path onto Heirisson Island. They walked along the north shore until they came to a gate. A posted sign stated that the park was closed for the evening, but there was a man standing a few meters away. Paul walked over and spoke to him for a moment before returning and gesturing for the boys to go through the gate. _

_ The four continued along the path after the gate was closed and locked behind them. The only other living things on that part of the island was wildlife. Louis watched as Harry noticeably relaxed. He saw the small smile on Paul’s face as he saw the change in Harry. Louis picked up Harry’s hand again and twined their fingers together. It was such a rare opportunity to hold hands when they were outside. _

_ As they reached the statue of Yagan, Paul and Travis slowed. _

_ “We’ll just hang out here,” Paul said, gesturing to a nearby bench. “Yell if the kangaroos give you any trouble,” he added with a laugh. The two security men went and sat down. Louis led Harry further west to the edge of the shore. From there they could see the city skyline of Perth and the incredible sunset. Louis pulled Harry down to the sandy shore so they could watch the darkening sky. Harry threw his arm around Louis’ shoulders. _

_ “Thanks for this Lou,” Harry said. “It’s wonderful.” He kissed Louis’ cheek. _

_ They sat quietly for a few minutes as the sun sank below the horizon. Louis’ nerves began to build as he thought about what he was about to do. Finally he couldn’t sit still any longer. He stood up and stepped out in front of Harry. _

_ “Harry Edward Styles,” he began. _

_ Harry giggled. “Louis William Tomlinson,” he responded. _

_ Louis laughed and tried to relax. “I have a surprise for you,” he said. _

_ “Okay,” Harry said. _

_ Louis closed his eyes and began to sing. As he sang the last little bit he looked at Harry’s stunned expression. _

**_I was stumbling, looking in the dark (ohho)_ **

**_With an empty heart_ **

**_But you say you feel the same_ **

**_Could we ever be enough?_ **

**_Baby we could be enough_ **

**_And it's alright_ **

**_Calling out for somebody to hold tonight_ **

**_When you're lost, I'll find the way_ **

**_I'll be your light_ **

**_You'll never feel like you're alone_ **

**_I'll make this feel like home_ **

_ Louis reached out and took both of Harry’s hands in his own. “I have known you for three mind-boggling, crazy years Haz,” Louis said seriously. Harry’s eyes widened. “Three of the best years of my life, and I don’t mean because of the money and the fans. Because of you.” _

_ He took a deep breath before continuing. “Do you remember back at Robin’s bungalow, you said you didn’t want to do this without me?” he asked. Harry nodded. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but I couldn’t have done all this without you. When the stories and the media rip into me, making me feel like crap, I just have to look to you, see your smile, hear your voice and everything rights itself. Those people who want to tear me down don’t matter. What matters is you. You and I, and what we mean to each other.” Louis knelt down in the sand and stared into Harry’s watery eyes. With one hand he reached out and brushed an escaped tear away. “I knew you would cry,” he whispered. “I know we’re young, and I know we’ll have to wait to make it official, but Harry Styles, will you marry me,” Louis paused. “Sometime in the future?” _

_ Harry smiled a tremulous smile and nodded. “Yes, Louis Tomlinson, I will marry you!” _

_ Louis let out a very loud shout of joy. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” _

_ Harry laughed. “You are my home,” Harry added, as he pulled Louis in for a passionate kiss. _

_ A while later they separated. “Did you like my engagement present,” Louis asked as he snuggled closer to Harry’s larger body. “It’s called Home. It’s not completely done, but getting close.” _

_ “It was beautiful Lou,” Harry murmured. They continued to sit and talk and kiss, despite the growing chill to the air. Louis never wanted to leave the little bubble they’d created. Eventually though they heard a throat clearing behind them. _

_ “Sorry lads,” Paul apologized. “But it’s getting late and the park employee needs to lock everything up soon.” He looked at the two younger men. “So congratulations are in order?” _

_ Broad, happy smiles crossed both of their faces. “Yes!” Louis replied. “He said yes!” _

_ Paul smiled. “Congratulations.” _

_ The two boys stood and walked hand in hand, following their security back to the gates. It was nearly midnight, and the few pedestrians they encountered paid no attention to the four men. Once back at the hotel and on their secure floor, Louis and Harry thanked Paul and Travis profusely, before heading to Niall’s room where they could hear guitar music playing. _

_ They pushed open the door and found the three other boys sitting on the couches in front of the fireplace, Niall was playing a slow riff on the guitar. Liam was the first to spot them and he jumped up. _

_ “Well?” he demanded, drawing Zayn’s and Niall’s attention to the door. _

_ Louis and Harry smiled widely. “Yes,” they said simultaneously. Niall whooped and Zayn laughed. Soon Harry and Louis were encompassed in a group hug as the five boys celebrated the engagement, and the success of their great escape. _

_ Hours later the boys all finally headed to bed. They had sound check and rehearsal later in the afternoon and the concert that night. _

_ Despite the late night, Louis woke up early on Saturday. He carefully extricated himself from Harry. ‘His fiancé!’ Louis thought and went out to the sitting room. He flicked the coffee maker on and grabbed his phone. He opened Twitter and scrolled through his feed, looking for Ed Sheeran. Nothing. He poured himself a coffee and sat back down. Thinking about it he realized that Ed was in New York, a 13 hour time difference. So it wasn’t even Saturday yet in America. He knew there wouldn’t be anything from Ed for a few hours, so he decided to go wake Harry up. They had nowhere to be for a few hours. _

_ It wasn’t until the early afternoon when Harry and Louis were getting ready that Louis realized he’d lost most of his voice. They had been talking quietly, almost in whispers so hadn’t noticed. Not until Louis opened up Twitter and saw Ed’s tweet. _

**_‘My best friend is getting married today. Mega awesome wicked cool.’_ **

_ “Haz!” Louis shouted, or at least tried. It came out as a croak. Harry came over and looked at Louis’ phone. _

_ Harry nodded. “Yeah one of his old school friends is getting married this weekend,” Harry explained. Louis then told Harry about the text conversation he’d had with Ed. _

_ “But of course you couldn’t wait,” Harry said with a laugh. He kissed Louis then went to track down their tour medic for Louis. _

_ Louis tweeted,  _ **_‘Lost my voice :(’_ **

_ It was decided that he would go, but not actually sing during sound check and rehearsal. The boys made sure he was well supplied with tea so that by the time the concert took place, he was able to sing. _

_ It was after the concert that Louis noticed the mischievous look on Harry’s face as he typed on his phone while they waited for the fans to leave before heading back to the hotel. _

_ “What are you up to Love?” Louis asked as he plunked down on the couch beside Harry. _

_ “Just taking advantage of Ed’s tweet, feeding the flames,” Harry explained. Every once in a while Harry took a stand and said something or tweeted something that drove management crazy. Due to his overwhelming number of followers, it was impossible for Modest to delete Harry’s tweets once out. “I’ve been listening to Joni Mitchell lately,” Harry added. Louis knew that, he’d heard the folk singer playing on Harry’s Ipod. Harry turned his phone so Louis could see the tweet he’d composed. _

**_*We don’t need no piece of paper from the city hall.*_ **

_ Louis laughed. “What?” Harry asked innocently. “It’s a lyric from one of her songs. You know I like to tweet lyrics.” He pouted. _

_ “You little shit,” Louis said affectionately. Then a thought occurred. “Oh shit! We haven’t told Anne and Robin yet!” _

_ Together the boys called Harry’s parents and told them the good news. Then they called Louis’ mom to share the news. _

_ Later that afternoon in response to the Twitter storm Harry had created, Anne added to the fire. _

**_*Good decision Louis.*_ **

**_****_ **

“So it was all a series of coincidences and shit-disturbing?” James clarifies with a smirk.

Harry and Louis laugh and nod. “Yeah. It really was. I couldn’t believe the conspiracy theories that came out of those tweets,” Harry replies.

“And FYI, there was not and has not been a wedding,” Louis pauses. “Yet! And that’s all you're getting from us on that subject. When it happens it will be small and private,” he adds firmly.

“Fair enough,” James agrees. “So ‘Home’, which came out on the Perfect EP was actually written a few year ago then?” James clarifies.

“Yeah,” Louis agrees. “We didn’t want to put it on ‘Four’. Harry wanted to keep it to himself for a while,” he says, squeezing Harry closer. “But we decided to clean it up and put it out for the fans because it means so much to both of us. It was tweaked a little to fit the band, but the core of the song didn’t get changed.”


	8. Tattoos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 8**

**Tattoos**

“Tattoos. Where do I even begin?” James says with a laugh.

Harry grins broadly. “Which ones would you like to talk about?” he asks coyly.

“It's all his fault, you know,” Louis says. “I never wanted tattoos!”

“I did hear that once,” James replies dryly. “So what happened?”

“Zayn was the first of us to get a tattoo,” Louis explains. “It was something we had to negotiate with Modest.”

“I’m pretty sure they would have refused if they’d know the kind of messages we’d be getting tattooed,” Harry adds with a grin.

“What do you mean negotiate?” James asks.

“In our original five year contract, so many things were controlled.” Louis says. “It’s funny, some of the things they wanted to control, weren’t a big deal, while some things that they didn’t put in the first contract became a huge deal for them.”

Harry speaks up next. “Every year we had the chance to renegotiate parts of the contract. We would ask for something, and Modest would want something in exchange. So when Zayn, Liam and I wanted to be allowed tattoos, we bargained with Modest. Part of that bargain involved letting them give me a fake girlfriend once or twice a year, at their discretion.”

“Taylor Swift?” James asks.

“Harry nods. “Yeah. She’s a nice girl, but it was all a set up. So were all of the others.”

“The fans picked up on that pretty quick,” Louis adds with a smirk. “They called them our winter girlfriends, because almost every fall, when our new album was coming out, one or more of us ended up with a new girlfriend. And because Liam and Zayn were pretty serious about their real girls, Harry and I were targeted.”

“Not Niall?” James asks.

Harry shakes his head with a fond smile. “No. Nialler was the boy next door in Modest’s plans. The one every girl could bring home to Mom. Any time Niall wanted to date it had to be kept quite secret. At least until recently,” he adds with a smirk. Niall’s supposed relationship with Selena had become quite the newsmaker in the past few months.

“So let's get back to the tattoos. What was the first tattoo each of you got?”

“Mine was the outline of a star on my arm,” Harry answers, touching the inside of his left bicep where the star tattoo rests. “I got it on my 18th birthday. It was for all five of us.”

Louis crosses his leg and lifts his pants. “Mine didn’t come until October.” He shows the screw on his ankle bone. “It was in Dublin and I lost a bet with Niall,” he explains. “It didn’t hurt as much as I’d feared. And I’d seen some of the sick tattoos Zayn and Harry had, so I decided I’d get more.”

**_June 2012 - Hi_ **

_ “Hey Lou,” Harry said as he walked into the hotel room bathroom where Louis was getting ready for another date with Eleanor. Modest had really been pushing Louis to spend as much time with her as possible to try and counter all of the Larry Stylinson talk the fans were creating. The management company was fearful the fans would cost them money in the lucrative American market. Louis looked at his boyfriend and smiled brightly. _

_ “Hey love,” he said gently, momentarily ignoring his hair that he was trying to tame. Harry jumped up to sit on the bathroom counter and Louis moved to stand between his legs. He ran his fingers through the ever growing brown locks and leaned in to gently kiss Harry’s pink lips. _

_ “I got a tattoo kit from Ed the last time I saw him,” Harry murmured as he peppered tiny kisses along Louis’ jaw. _

_ “Hmmm,” Louis responded, returning the butterfly kisses across Harry’s face. _

_ “Do you remember the first word you said to me?” Harry asked softly. _

_ Louis pulled back and grinned. “Course Love. You said ‘Oops’ and I said ‘Hi!’” _

_ Harry smiled, pleased that Louis remembered. “I was wondering if you wanted to give me a tattoo tomorrow?” he asked. _

_ Louis looked surprised. “Me? Are you sure that’s a good idea Haz? You know I’m not big on tattoos and needles.” _

_ Harry shrugged. “I know you don’t want one, and that’s fine. But I’d really like you to do it. Zayn said he would help since he’s done them before.” Harry looked away, suddenly shy. “I’d really like to have your writing on me… as a reminder,” he added softly. _

_ Louis sighed and lifted Harry’s chin. He knew the younger boy was having a tough time with the whole Eleanor thing. He’d accepted that as long as Modest managed them, there would be no coming out to the public, but the fake girlfriends were tougher to accept. “Love, of course I’ll do it,” Louis murmured. “As long as Zee is around to make sure I don’t do everything wrong.” He gently kissed Harry again. “In fact, now that I think about it, I kinda like the idea of having my word, my mark on you.” _

_ Harry moaned deep in his throat. “You would say that just as you’re getting ready to go out,” he complained, wiggling in discomfort as Louis’ words aroused him. _

_ Louis laughed and reluctantly pulled back to finish getting ready for his ‘date’. Harry jumped off the vanity and headed for the door. “Guess I’ll just have to take care of things myself then,” he threw over his shoulder, palming his erection through his pants. It was Louis’ turn to groan as he pictured Harry in their bed, taking care of the ‘problem’. He wished he could join him instead of heading out on the town. _

_ Louis finished getting ready and walked back into the suite. Harry was sprawled on the king sized bed, his hand down the front of his shorts, slowly jacking himself. Louis groaned. “Fuck Haz!” _

_ Harry looked up at him through his long lashes, green eyes sparkling. His cheeks were flushed and he licked his lips. “Told you I’d take care of it,” he murmured huskily. Louis began to stalk over to the bed. _

_ A loud knock at the door froze him in his tracks. “Lou? Eleanor is ready and waiting,” Paul, their main bodyguard said through the door. _

_ Louis looked back and forth between the door and the bed, torn over what to do. Harry took pity on him. He crawled off the bed and over to where Louis was standing. He reached out to straighten Louis’ collar. “Go. Put on a good show. I’ll see you when you come back.” He bent down to lightly kiss Louis. _

_ Louis returned the tender gesture. He couldn’t believe how much Harry had grown in the last year and a half. He’d grown taller, now standing a couple of inches taller than Louis, but he’d also grown more mature and wise. “I love you,” he murmured. “And tomorrow, we’ll call Zayn in and do your tattoo,” he promised. _

_ Harry grinned and pushed Louis towards the door. _

_ **** _

_ The next morning Harry had everything set up. Zayn came by after breakfast to oversee the simple tattoo procedure. He explained how to do things in easy terms that Louis could follow. Making sure everything was sterile was the number one rule. It was a pretty simple tattoo, simply ‘Hi’ in Louis’ printing. As Louis worked away at it on Harry’s upper arm, he noticed Harry’s reaction. His skin became flushed, he squirmed on the couch. _

_ “Harry?” Louis asked as he paused the tattoo gun. He wanted to make sure Harry was okay. _

_ Harry rolled his head on his shoulders to look at Louis. His pupils were blown wide open. He licked his lips. “Hmmm?” he mumbled. _

_ Louis looked at Zayn and grinned. “Wow, he’s gone, bro,” he said. _

_ Zayn laughed and nodded before getting up. “That’s my cue to leave. You get to deal with his little problem.” _

_ “Nothing little about his problem Zee,” Louis replied as Zayn left the room. Louis quickly finished the simple letters, cleansed the tattoo, put the anti-bacterial cream on it before apply a small sterile bandage. _

_ He sat down on the coffee table in front of Harry. “Haz,” Louis said softly. “Can you look at me?” Harry did as Louis asked. Louis was stunned at how Harry looked, his eyes were black with only a tiny rim of green still visible, his cheeks were flushed a beautiful pink shade and he was biting his lower lip. Louis glanced down at Harry’s lap and could easily see his erection tenting his track pants. Louis felt his own cock surge to attention. “God Haz,” he murmured reaching out to stroke Harry’s cheek. “You look so hot like this! Why didn’t you tell me tattooing got you this worked up?” _

_ Harry chuckled. “It’s never been quite like this before,” he admitted. “I mean the pain always makes me...I don’t know… float a little. It lets me get out of my head for a bit. But I’ve never been this turned on before.” He leaned forward and grabbed Louis, pulling the shorter man into his lap. “I think this is just for you babe,” he murmured against Louis’ lips. _

_ **** _

_ Over the next several months Harry continues to add to his body art. Louis particularly likes the LOVE banner Harry got over his heart in September. _

_ In October, after months of pestering from Zayn and Harry, Louis and Liam agree to get matching tattoos. Somehow Niall manages to avoid giving in. Louis is surprised that the small screw tattooed onto his ankle does hurt as much as he feared. Curious, he asks Zayn to give him another tattoo, slightly larger. That’s how he ends up with the skateboarding stickman! _

_ “Hey Lou,” Harry said as entered their hotel room in Manchester. “Look at this.” Harry held out his cell phone showing a picture of two hands with matching heart tattoos. The word love inside the heart. “Couple tattoos,” Harry added. _

_ Louis looked up at his boyfriend. He could tell Harry had something brewing in his mind. “What are you thinking Love?” he asked. _

_ Harry sat down on the couch beside Louis. “Well...now that we are allowed to get tattoos…” he trailed off chewing on his lower lip. Louis brushed his thumb across those beloved lips trying to get Harry to stop his nervous habit. “As long as we don’t tattoo each other’s names, and don’t get them done at the exact same time, and don’t make it quite as obvious as these ones…” he indicated the picture on his phone. “We could get tattoos that go together. If they aren’t obvious Modest can’t stop us, yet we would know what they mean!” he rushed out. _

_ Louis pulled Harry into his arms and hugged him closely. “Maybe Haz,” he said gently. “I’ll think about it.” _

_ The next month when Harry got his swallows tattooed on his chest, Louis thought back to what Harry had said. At first glance, the swallows looked simply like two birds. But Harry admitted the birds represented him and Louis. It wasn’t obvious, and Modest couldn’t make any comments about the birds. So what if they weren’t exactly the same size? So what if the birds had different eyebrows? So what if the one bird, ‘hid’ the love banner? People covered up tattoos with other tattoos all the time. _

**The Other Tattoo Pairs**

“So, when I was in L.A. I went to a tattoo place and got a couple of new tattoos,” Louis explains. “That’s where Oops came from and the small flock of birds.” He looks over at Harry and shrugs. “I was happy I decided to do it, but then a few days later, Modest brought out the big guns. Not sure if it was in response to the tattoos, but that’s when they announced the Taylor Swift arrangement.” He looks at James. “Maybe my tattoos were a little too obvious.”

Harry laughs. “I think the next set were even more so,” he says, leaning his head to rest against Louis’.

“What were the next set of couple tattoos?” James asks.

Harry sighs. “I was having a hard time pretending with Taylor,” Harry explains. “I mean she’s a nice girl, but I didn’t want to pretend to be into her. I didn’t want to walk around getting papped, and having all that crap written about us.”

“And I was having to spend a lot of time with Eleanor,” Louis adds.

“So I got my ship,” Harry indicates his covered left bicep. “As a reminder that I can always sail home.”

“And the next day, I got the compass, pointing home,” Louis adds, pulling up his sleeve to show the compass on his right inner forearm.

“There are a number of other ones that do go together,” Harry continues. “Again it became a game of us against Modest. The fans were quite often the ones who figured it out. But because we never confirmed the tattoos were connected, Modest couldn’t do anything.”

“So can you give us a rundown on the other couples tattoos?” James asks. “A display would be great too,” he adds cheekily.

Harry and Louis laugh. “Sorry, no show and tell,” Louis says. “But you can find them all on the internet anyway.”

“So my butterfly and Louis’ **It is what it is** are a set,” Harry explains. “The more obvious rope and anchor of course, rose and dagger, heart and arrow.”


	9. Ed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 9**

**Ed Sheeran**

“Tell me about Ed Sheeran. I understand he has been an important part of your lives.”

“Ed and I met through a mutual friend, one of our guitarists. That was back in 2011 when we were working on Up All Night, after the X-Factor tour,” Harry explains. “He would be couch surfing, and I would be visiting, working on songs. We’d often fall asleep on a couple of couches. He’s such a zen like guy. We really hit it off.”

“And…”

Harry laughs. “I ended up talking to him about Louis. Alot.” Louis smirks. “That’s where Little Things came from. He took some of the things I told him, what I loved about Louis and put them to music.” Harry begins to hum, then sing.  **“I know you've never loved the sound of your voice on tape. You never want to know how much you weigh, you still have to squeeze into your jeans. But you're perfect to me.”**

“Did management know that it was your little love song to Louis?”

“No! No one did, except Ed and I. He made up a story about writing it with a female friend of his when he was younger.” Harry glances lovingly at Louis. “Eventually I told Lou too.”

Louis snorts. “Not that I need to be told Love. **‘You can't go to bed without a cup of tea. And maybe that's the reason that you talk in your sleep’** kind of gave it away. You always made fun of me and my tea!” He laughs again. “Not to mention **‘I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile’.** You know that is one of my pet peeves about myself!”

Harry smiles bashfully. “Okay. So maybe it was a little obvious. But no one picked up on it!” he defends.

“Except me,” Louis pronounces.

“Any other songs from Ed?”

Harry and Louis look at each other. “18” they say together.

“It really describes us. We recorded that in August and September of 2014,” Louis explains. “That was a tough time for us. From mid 2013 to mid 2014, management was really riding us…” he trails off. “We were facing pressure from every direction, yet our love for one another never stopped.” He glances at Harry. “We may have stuttered or stumbled at times, but never stopped. 18 was so much our song. I’d been in love with Harry from almost the beginning, and Haz…”

“Lou finally accepted the fact that I loved him,” Harry interjects. “Just before I turned 18. So the song couldn’t have been more relevant.”


	10. Interview Comments / The Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: fluff, implied sexual content, coming out, inspired by real events.
> 
> disclaimer: This is my head-canon. Some things happened, most are fictional - sometimes I’m not sure which is which. Overall, the entire story is fictional. I don’t know Harry Styles or Louis Tomlinson. Whether they are or aren’t isn’t my business. I hope they both find happiness in whatever form that may be.
> 
> Bold is generally texting of some kind or song lyrics. Italic, past tense sections are flashbacks. Regular text, present tense are present day.

**Chapter 10**

**Interview comments, quotes explained**

“Harry, earlier you mentioned the ‘controlling influence’ of Liam and Niall had waned in the last couple of years,” James says. Harry nods. “There are a number of interview incidents since the fall of 2014 where you have said things, that … probably weren’t sanctioned?” James tries to say diplomatically.

Harry and Louis laugh. “Yeah. I think the fall of 2014 was when things really started to change,” Louis admits. “Harry and I were struggling, Zayn was unhappy,” he pauses to collect his thoughts. “As a group we started to talk about needing a break, and needing new management because we weren’t happy with how things were going.”

Harry picks up the story. “We knew we had just over a year left on our contract with Modest, so we talked about what would happen when that contract ended. That’s when we talked about maybe taking a break. We were about to release our fourth album in four years, we’d spent more time on the road than at home, the conversation needed to happen.”

Harry stops for a moment to take a drink of water before continuing. “I guess I was pretty frustrated with having to hide and started to get a little cocky.” Louis snorts in laughter beside Harry. “Shush you,” Harry says before looking back at James. “I’d reached the point where I didn’t think there was much more Modest could do, so I started veering from the rote answers.”

**_November 2014 - Open the closet door!_ **

_ Harry and Liam shook hands with the reporter, Lucy Jones and took a seat on the couch, ignoring the bustle of the cameras and crew finishing setting up. They were currently promoting their fourth album, Four, which was due out in just over a week. Harry was exhausted. They’d hardly finished up the Where We Are Tour, and moved right into media promo for Four. He’d barely seen Louis lately and already Modest was making arrangements for another ‘winter girlfriend’.  The interviewer gave them a brief overview of what she was going to ask before she walked off to finish getting ready. Harry looked over the questions then glanced at Liam. _

_ “Same old questions Li,” he sighed. “One day I’d just like to say ‘I’m not looking for a girl’,” he said quietly. _

_ Liam looked at his younger bandmate. “I know Haz,” he murmured. “It sucks.” He glanced at their PR rep, Will, before leaning closer. “If I gave you an opening, would you take it?” he asked. “Not quite as blatantly as what you just said, but, maybe a hint?” _

_ Harry thought for a moment. Would he? Why not? There wasn’t much more that management could do. He already had to stay away from Louis, and both had to pretend to date other people. What more could they do? _

_ Before Harry could respond, Lucy returned and got the interview going by announcing that in honour of the new album they would play a game called four-play. _

_ She started with asking what four things they suck at. He and Liam picked some lame things that they are not good at. Harry joked that one of his is singing. _

_ Next was a question about fan signs. Harry responded that he liked the abusive ones. “Like you guys suck, I’m here for the drummer,” he explained, _

_ Then the question Harry knew was coming. “Your favourite traits that you look for in a lady? Four favourite traits?” she asked them. _

_ Liam responded first. “Female,” he said. Harry cleared his throat nervously. This was the opening Liam had talked about. “That’s a good trait,” Liam added. _

_ Harry looked off to the side to their rep before responding. “Not that important,” he said as he flipped his hand and shook his head slightly. Liam smirked at Harry, and gave a little laugh as he looked to their PR rep. The man was glaring but remained quiet.  Harry continued, “Uh, I would say sense of humour, and like, natural.” He thought about Louis as he spoke. _

_ Lucy reminded them she was looking for four traits. Liam smirked and laughed before adding, “Oh, very large personality.” Harry knew he was talking about Louis. _

_ Harry continued, “Someone who’s nice. Nice to be with.” _

_ Liam commented on Harry’s use of ‘nice’, saying that he’d stopped the jokes. He was trying to pretend their answers hadn’t been serious. Harry was frustrated. “Not going to go out with a dickhead are you?” he asked. _

_ The interviewer continued, and asked what their top 4 favourite things are to do. _

_ Harry sighed and looked down before answering. No one, but one other person, would know the meaning of his answer. “Walks on the beach, reading poetry, horseback riding, and sleeping in front of the fire,” he added as he glanced up coyly with a smirk. _

_ The interview continued for a few more minutes before they shook Lucy’s hand and got ready to leave. Once in the car, Will glared at them both. “What the hell was that?” he asked. _

_ Liam and Harry looked at each other and shrugged, not about to help the man out. “What do you mean?” Liam asked innocently. _

_ “‘Not that important’ Harry? What were you thinking?” Will asked. _

_ Harry looked steadily at the man, not willing to be intimidated. “I’m thinking that we have fans of all genders and orientations. You know we have spoken out in support of gay rights. What harm does it do to be inclusive?” he asked seriously. That wasn’t his intention when he made the comment, but it might make Modest back off a little. And it felt good, to get that little bit, that little hint, out into the public domain. _

_ **** _

_ A few days later the boys all sat down for a live-streamed interview with Ben Winston. Ben had done some of their videos and was a friend to the band. Unofficially, he knew about Harry and Louis. Zayn sat closest to Ben, followed by Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall. As per usual, at least one person had to sit between Harry and Louis. Harry hated it. He wasn’t feeling great. His hay fever was acting up and he’d been sneezing off and on all day. _

_ As the interview proceeded, Harry continued to sneeze. At one point, when the camera was on Zayn, Louis looked over behind Liam to Harry. “Get them sneezes out,” Louis whispered to Harry with a smile. Unfortunately the mic picked up his whisper. Off to the side, Louis could see Will, their PR man frowning. He glanced at Liam and shrugged. “Trying,” he muttered. _

_ When they are asked about the oddest rumour they’d heard about themselves, none of them mention the gay rumours or Larry Stylinson, despite Ben asking them a second time. Neither Harry or Louis were going to publicly deny the other.   _

_ **** _

_ Another week, another promotional interview, this time with the Sun in London. Four was coming out in a couple of days. The lads were sitting on a sectional couch, Zayn, Louis, Liam, Niall and Harry around the corner to the left of Niall. Harry liked this because at least he could easily see Louis. _

_ As usual, the questions rolled around to girls and who is single and who isn’t. The reporter asked if they were looking for something serious. They started to joke about Niall. _

_ “Every new promo tour trip we say that Niall slept with a different ...uh, you remember...a different celebrity,” Louis said, turning the focus to Niall for a change. _

_ “Carly Rae Jepson,” he added. _

_ Niall laughed. “We never even met,” he responded. _

_ Liam interrupted. “We need a sports person,” he said. _

_ “Do we?” Louis asked. _

_ “Serena Williams?” Liam suggested. _

_ “No, no, no,” Louis said. He looked at the reporter. “We’ll need to get back to you on who Niall’s been sleeping with.” _

_ “We need to think outside the box,” Liam decided. _

_ “A man,” the reporter suggested. _

_ “Let's go a man,” Liam agreed glancing to his right at Louis. _

_ Niall objected. “Don’t go a man!” _

_ Harry smiled and knocked Niall on the knee. “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it!” _

_ Everyone laughed, trying to make it sound like a joke. Will was glaring, but the boys didn’t care. It was part of their plan. _

_ **** _

_ Once Four was released the promo tour headed overseas. Near the end of November they went back to Australia. As part of their secret ‘opening the closet door’ campaign, Louis got the dagger tattoo to match with Harry’s rose from a year earlier. It wasn’t meant to be a couple’s tattoo, but the fans had turned it into a possibility and Louis wanted to give some little sign to their loyal followers. _

_ Harry and Niall were paired up for the interviews, while Louis, Liam and Zayn did the other ones. In a speed round of questions by Smallzy, they were asked big spoon or little spoon? _

_ Harry shyly, but happily responded. “Little spoon.” He’d always be Louis’ little spoon, despite the three inches he had on the older man. It was just the way they had done things ever since the beginning. _

_ At another interview they were asked if they ever got star struck. _

_ Niall started the answer. “We were at the AMAs the other day and Patrick Dempsey gave us an award.” _

_ Harry took the opportunity presented. “ _ _ He is outrageously handsome, he is truly. I mean you look at him and go 'wow'." _

_ The interviewer asked one of his people, “Is that McSteamy?” _

_ Someone said yes. So did Harry, then he added, “Yeah, he is steamy as well." _

_ **** _

“Unfortunately that little rebellion came back to bite us in 2015,” Harry says softly.

“What do you mean Harry?” James asks.

Harry looks down and away, and Louis whispers to him for a moment. “Remember, we mentioned a couple of topics we weren’t ready to talk about before we came on camera?” Louis asks.

James nods in understanding. “Okay, we’ll move on.”

########

**The Future**

“So what does the future look like boys? For you two personally and for One Direction?” James asks.

Louis and Harry both smile. “We do honestly hope and plan to be back with Liam and Niall as One Direction. At least for one more album, but who knows?” Harry says honestly.  

“Fans change, we change, interests change, and priorities change,” Louis states. “We can’t really predict what will happen a year from now.” He looks at Harry. “I do know that Harry and I are committed to each other. We have been for nearly five years. I hope we get married and adopt some kids. But when all that happens is between him and me. We’ve shared so much of our lives with the world, I’m honestly looking forward to a time when we are out of the spotlight and can just go about our daily lives as Harry and Louis.”

“And it’s not that we aren’t grateful to our fans,” Harry adds.

“Absolutely not!” Louis agrees.

“We know it’s our fans who, from day one on X-Factor, supported us and are the reason behind our success. But there will come a time when we’ve given so much of our selves to everyone else, that we will have to step back, re-evaluate and reinvent ourselves as we want to be. We aren’t sixteen and eighteen anymore and our lives need to reflect that growth and maturity,” Harry explains.

“Well said Harry,” James agrees. “Thank you, both of you for choosing me to talk with about you journey. I’m sure everyone watching wishes you both all the best. And I do hope we see you out on tour again in the future.”

 

 

******

Thanks for reading. Haven't posted fanfiction in about 15 years, but this one bit me and wouldn't let go. 

 

Have an incident you want me to write about, I may add more chapters. I'm NOT doing babygate...until I find out how it ends.


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